We are now over three months on from Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic exit.
He has still never given his side of the story, but we certainly have heard Dermot Desmond’s, accusing him of being ‘divisive‘ and ‘self-serving’.
Since being replaced on an interim basis by Martin O’Neill, Rodgers has now moved to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Qadsiah in the Pro League.
He took seven points from his first three games with the club, but their most high-profile encounter yet came on Thursday night.
And away against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, the ex-Celtic boss delivered a special result.
Would you follow these steps if you were on the Celtic board too?
Ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers after beating Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo’s side entered the encounter placed second in the table, locked in a title race with Al-Hilal.
They hadn’t lost a home game all season, but Rodgers’ men had different ideas.
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Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez scored quickfire goals to give Qadsiah a two-goal lead, and a Ronaldo penalty wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-1 win for the visitors.
Rodgers was seen embracing Ronaldo after the game, and afterwards, the ex-Hoops boss vowed that this was just the beginning.
He said: “We are very happy with today’s victory, and we dedicate it to our fans and to the people of Khobar, who truly deserve this win.
We showed our capabilities against a big club like Al-Nassr. In the second half, we needed to improve our ball possession, and that is something we worked on throughout the match.
We tried to force Al-Nassr to play long balls, and we asked our attackers to drop back and contribute defensively.
“All the players delivered an outstanding performance both offensively and defensively, and their tactical discipline was clearly evident.
“Our goal is to continue winning and to make this victory a strong motivation for achieving more positive results in the upcoming matchweeks of the Saudi Pro League.
“We have a long way to go before we arrive at the technical level. We should’ve won our first game. We should be four out of four wins.
“But I have to applaud the players, because their ability to work hard, and bring onto the field the ideas that we are trying to bring to them, and play with a spirit and a heart, that makes me really proud.
“We’re really only at the beginning, working with the players that are here. And as we go through the process, play much better, control games better, whilst keeping the attacking threat…
“Because I promised when I arrived that we would be offensive and aggressive, with discipline.”
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Brendan Rodgers’ final months at Celtic
Rodgers is known for his political approach to media handling – but this season, he took it to a whole different level.
His first press conference after the closure of the transfer window was quite something. He described feeling ’empty’, and blasted the ‘cowardly action’ of a club insider who briefed against him.
When asked if he knew the identity of the leak, he said ‘no’… with a subtle wink.
But if there’s one comment which sealed his fate, it was probably the Honda Civic analogy at Dens Park, which was widely derided in the media.
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